News

A New Jersey hedge fund fraudster has been ordered to pay $2 million for allegedly lying to investors.

A pair of veteran financial services analysts at Canada’s National Bank is gearing up to launch a hedge fund next year.

France’s Laffitte Capital Management has hopped on the UCITS III bandwagon.

Hong Kong-based private equity firm Middle East & Asia Capital Partners Pte (MEACP) plans to introduce a sharia-compliant investment vehicle to its clean energy fund to attract Islamic capital, reports Reuters news agency.

Steven ChuThe U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will provide $620 million in funding for 32 smart grid demonstration projects.

Projects include large-scale energy storage systems, smart meters, distribution and transmission system monitoring devices, and a range of other smart technologies. They will serve as models for the large-scale deployment of integrated smart grid systems.

The DOE says funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will be leveraged with $1 billion in private sector funding.

Polaris Venture Partners has invested an additional $1 million in MIT spinout Sun Catalytix Corporation, bringing its total investment to $3 million.

San Francisco Bay Area-based Eco-Fuel Global and the UK-based Eco Positive have signed a $250 million agreement with the Rwandan government to produce biofuels from Jatropha Curcas.

Energy research company New Energy Finance is predicting a 50% year-on-year drop in the “levelized” cost of solar power (that is, the lifetime cost per kWh before subsidies) by the end of 2009.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will provide South Carolina’s Clemson University with up to $45 million for a wind energy test facility for utility-scale wind turbines.

Gartmore Group has become the latest hedge fund ensnared in an insider-trading probe.

Italian securities regulator Consob is investigating Gartmore and several other firms. The case involves alleged insider-trading of Banca Italease shares three years ago; Consob has already fined 11 bankers more than US$5 million for their alleged role.